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At its meeting on 20-21 April 2012, the IOF Council discussed the proposals sent by the member federations to the IOF General Assembly. The official views of the Council will be published, as usual, in the Congress Binder that will be sent to the federations at the latest 2 months before the General Assembly, i.e. by 20 May 2012.

Proposal from Italy

The Italian Orienteering Federation (FISO) proposed changes to the IOF Statutes which would ensure that there is at least one of each gender among the Vice Presidents, and furthermore at least two of each gender among the other Council members. The FISO proposes that these changes to the Statutes come into effect immediately during the General Assembly in Lausanne, i.e. before the 2012 Council elections.

The FISO proposal would increase the gender quota to three, while the quota for Council members from outside Europe is two. In total, there are eleven members in the Council.

The Council considered this proposal carefully and supports the objective of having a better gender balance on Council. However, by a majority, the Council agreed not to support this specific proposal because of it could reduce the number of positions on Council available for decision at the General Assembly.

Proposal from Spain

Spain has revived the proposal it put to the 2008 General Assembly in Prostejov, Czech Republic, to include Adventure Racing as an official IOF discipline.

The Council recognises the importance of Adventure Racing to the Spanish Orienteering Federation but cannot support this proposal because:

Very few of our federations administer or seek to administer adventure racing

The format of adventure racing around the world is very diverse and in many cases involves no navigational activity

The majority of activity is commercially driven with a clear profit motive and it would be impossible for the IOF to exert full control over the activity, for example regarding anti-doping matters

Finally, the IOF has scarce resources for its existing disciplines and adding a further discipline would simply dilute our impact.

Proposals from Italy, Switzerland and the Nordic countries

Three proposals to change the future World Orienteering Championships (WOC) programme were submitted for consideration of the General Assembly. Two of the proposals, from Italy and Switzerland, suggest changes to the current programme while one proposal, from the Nordic countries, suggests introduction of a completely new model for the WOC.

During its meeting the IOF Council considered the different proposals. The proposal from the Nordic countries, to have a “terrain” WOC and an “urban” WOC in alternating years, implies a radical change of the programme, the consequences of which are largely unknown at the moment. The Council is not prepared to support the proposal.

The proposals from Italy and Switzerland both contain a number of components which the Council believes would contribute to the development of the WOC. They take into consideration the interests of both smaller and bigger federations and make organising of the WOC easier. The Council therefore plans to suggest merging the two proposals into one for the consideration by the General Assembly delegates. An outline of the merged programme is given below.